About David

Over the Horizon

Over The Horizon is an autobiographical photo journal documenting the life exploration of David Thoreson as he sailed some 65,000 nautical miles around the globe.

Over the Horizon is his beautiful and compelling life story.

In this very personal account of his adventures, David combines vivid story-telling with stunning photography taken from an accumulated 150,000 photographs and over 600 pages of personal journal entries documenting his travels.

David has been called “The Accidental Explorer” because he is a sailor from Iowa and ventured to the sea with a “salty” southern Minnesota farmer. As a young man, he chose outdoor photography as a profession. His love for the sea and the search for new images matched up perfectly with his dream to sail the world’s oceans.

After all the years chasing the horizon and following his dream, David’s life was profoundly impacted as he became an eye-witness to a rapidly-changing Arctic and ocean environment. He is now an advocate for ocean and wilderness protection along with a more sustainable future for generations of explorers yet to come.

David Thoreson

David Thoreson is a professional photographer, sailor and explorer, and has been on extreme adventures much of his life, photographing, documenting and studying the oceans and polar regions of the world. He is the first American sailor in history to accomplish the Northwest Passage in both directions. He is a member of both the Cruising Club of America and the Explorers Club.

David has sailed over 65,000 nautical miles across the globe including below the Antarctic Circle, across the Atlantic 3 times, over the Arctic Circle 6 times, and a 28,000-mile circumnavigation of the North and South American Continents.

His striking photography has appeared in a broad spectrum of media, from the National Park Service, PBS and the Smithsonian to the World Science Festival and TED Talks. David’s documentary of the 2009-10 28,000-mile circumnavigation of the North and South American continents was nominated for an Emmy.

When home in Northwest Iowa, David operates a fine-art gallery featuring his photography and still loves to race dinghies across the blue waters of Okoboji, where he learned to sail as a boy.